Book Banning

One day you are walking down to your school's library to checkout a book for class. You arrive in the labrary ant start searching for the book on the shelves. It seems to be checked out so you go to the computer to see if there are any copies left. You search for the book but no results come up for it, so you go to the librarian and ask if it was misplaced on any of the other shelves. But then that's when they tell you, "The book was banned from the school". You say "Okay" and sadly walk away empty handed.

Book banning is when a school or government bans a book for profanity or other content. Currently the school has a shelf just for banned books (that where banned in other schools). One of these books is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The book was banned for use of the "n" word. I think that just because it has some racial content doesn't mean you should ban it. These types of books tell us what life was like back then in the time it was written. It's like banning the history!

The only pros to banning books are that people aren't exposed to things like racism, profanity, bad language, and inappropriate content early on. People will be exposed to that type of thing eventually anyway. I'm not saying that you should un-ban all books but you shouldn't ban then for just the use of a cuss word. If you have any further thoughts on this please reply, I would love to hear your comments.

My Thanksgiving Day Experience

 Author's Note: I decided to write about how my Thanksgiving was because it was still fresh in my mind. I am focused on transitions.

Thanksgiving day was something to remember this year. There where ups and downs (but mostly ups). On that day we went to my uncle Fred's and aunt Kathie's house to watch the packer game. Then we went to my Grandmas for dinner. I loved it because it was so much fun even though I had to rush everywhere.

When I got up it seemed like a school day because we had to leave right away. I got up ate food and stuff and when I got to my aunt and uncles house it was about 11:00 so we had some lunch. It was very good. I had a cinnamon roll fruit ham and some sort of thing that was a spinach cheese and egg mix. It sounds gross but it tasted great. Eventually after watching the packers win. I went to my grandmas house for dinner. I always like it because she makes almost everything from scratch. One thing was fluff. Fluff is like the name describes, fluffy. It's a mix of  marshmallow, Mandarin oranges, Strawberries, and whipped cream. It is the best food you will ever eat.

When it was time to go I was pretty tired so we left and when I got home I just crashed. I hope everyone's thanksgiving was great, and I also hope that next year it's even better. And also... Go Pack Go!

Christmas Memories

Author's Note: I was thinking about what I thought this years Christmas would be like and so I thought about this topic. I am working on transitions in this post.

I always think of Christmas as the best time of the year. It isn't just because of the gifts though, I also enjoy snowboarding and building forts in the snow. I love the feeling you have when you get up in the morning knowing you can just relax and not rush to get to the bus. Some of the things that come with winter are traditions, like for me and my family we always go to midnight church every year and I enjoy every bit of it.

Sometimes you make up new traditions, like ever since I was five I would wear my favorite Pajamas to bed so when I woke up on Christmas day, I would be wearing my favorite Pajamas. I don't know why I do that, I just do. Maybe it's because it makes Christmas day even better, but to tell you the truth, I really don't know.

One of my best Christmas memories was like when I was six or seven and I got this big Lego castle and my dad and I worked on it all morning. Eventually we finished it and it looked really cool. This year I hope to have many more new memories. I love it when I can remember something from when i was six Because I always am happy when I think of a good memory.

Why Adults don't like Winter

Author's Note: Recently I was talking about winter with my family and it brought up this topic

In Winter many adults say that they wish it was summer. I think that they just don't like to have to shovel the snow and ice off of the driveway. I asked someone recently, and he said that he just doesn't like the slush and walking through the snow and having to put a jacket and boots on to go outside. Well If you ask me, I think that walking in snow requires more energy and putting on a jacket and boots is more work, so in the end it is just more work. I think kids have a better time in winter because they get to have snowball fights and make forts while adults shovel and do other things.

Adults should get more involved with their kids more in winter so it's more enjoyable for them, like a few years ago my dad tried to snowboard instead of ski because he had skied for most of his life and I told him he should try it. He ended up Pancaking and breaking a rib. If you don't know what pancaking is, it's when you try to slow down by turning sideways and leaning back but then snow catches on the front of the board and you fall forward on your stomach. So in the end I'd suggest not trying to snowboard if you are a skier, or at least start out slowly... very slowly.

In the end I think that winter can be a very enjoyable time it's just some people don't always think positively so they are thinking "Aww I don't want to shovel the drive way." But if you think positively you would be like "Okay I am going to shovel the driveway and then come back in for a warm hot chocolate.". So if you think of the positives you can get through any situation... Including winter.

Robotics

Authors Note: Recently I went to a robotics competition and It was very interesting so I thought I should write about it.

So a few days ago the robotics team and I went to the competition and what happened was we first set up our presentation at a certain spot. Then we went over to the board and finished our missions as best we could. Later in the day we went to the presentation, technical, and teamwork rooms to show the judges what we had done. When we got out all of us where pleased with how we did and we were looking forward to the actual competition.

When the time came that we had to go and compete we went and set up and then they said "3...2...1...LEGO!" then we pressed start so our robot would go and  then eventually when it was over we had 72 points. Then when we went the next time we got 132 points and we were doing great.

Then, on the last round, on our last program the robot got stuck! We were all sad because it didn't work but then, it got unstuck and we got about 100 points on the last program! It was amazing! After the competition, when everyone was done we had the closing ceremony and they handed out about 15 awards.

We were nominated for about half of them but we never won one. Then they were handing out the 1st and 2nd place prize and they called us! We won 2nd place and we were very happy. Now in December we are going to the state competition. I cant wait. I hope its as good as this one.

Why are School Buses Yellow

Most people usually just take it for granted when school buses are yellow. But, some people actually think, "Why are school buses yellow? Why not red or blue?". I have done some research and I found the answer. The reason for this is very interesting.

The color yellow is the happiest color on the color spectrum and it Is also the color of the Solar Plexus Chakara in the Hindu religion. It Stimulates the mental proses and the nervous system also it activates memory and encourages communication. It also stands out.

That is why the buses are painted yellow, because they stand out. It is easy to see in fog and among other cars. And because they are so heavy they it is good that they stand out for safety so if it is coming at you can notice it to get out of the way. I bet more people get hurt by white school buses that yellow.

My Halloween expirience

Halloween has always been fun. It is an enjoyable experience for every one, including my 2 year old neighbor. This year was his first year and he was a pumpkin. This year I was Steve (a character from my favorite game, Minecraft). If you don't know who Steve or Minecraft are, the whole game is based on building blocks and so your character is made of pixelated rectangular prisms. You might think that the game is boring, don't knock it till you try it because it is really addicting. I think this year wasn't very good for trick-or-treating because of the weather.

Steve

This is my Steve costume

The weather was crummy because it was windy and rainy so every drop that hit you felt like ice. Then because of that it was hard to walk around because my blocky costume kept catching in the wind. My friend Jeremy and I only made it half way around the neighborhood when we decided to head back. We ran back to my house going to every other home to get some candy.

The best part was that once we got back we had hot chocolate and went into the basement to play some video games. After Jeremy went home we watched part of a movie that was on and had some pizza. After that I worked on some blogging (a.k.a. this post) and we went to bed.

I hope that next year would be clearer and that I don't have such a big costume to lug around, if I go trick-or-treating at all. Maybe I'll hand out the candy so my mom and dad can relax or the other way around. Either way I hope it"s a good one.

Nuclear Energy

There are many was to get energy, one of the ways are Nuclear Energy. Nuclear energy is bad for the environment but can never run out and it supplies 19% of our energy in homes. When you hear Nuclear energy you immediately think of bombs, the thing is if the reactor core over heats it will explode.I think that Nuclear energy is bad for the environment and is also very dangerous.

I bet you are thinking "I don't even know how Nuclear energy works!". Nuclear energy starts with water flowing to the reactor core which is made up of a bundle of radioactive Uranium. This uranium is very hot and the water is there to cool it down. The water gets heated into steam and floats up and turns the turbine that makes the energy. Then the turbine creates the energy and then the energy is moved on power lines to homes and other buildings all over.

The consequences are the radiation poisoning and mutations. If you have radiation poisoning you die slowly and it can't be stopped. Then if a child is exposed at an early age then they could grow up and have deformed legs or arms or some other body part. Another consequence is global warming. The power plant will dump tons of smoke and other waste out and into our environment.

I think that global warming is not the way to go I think that it would be better if we just stuck with solar wind and other Eco-friendly energies. If we go to nuclear global warming will be more of a problem than ever before.

Sources:

• Brain, Marshall. "HowStuffWorks "How Nuclear Power Works"." HowStuffWorks "Learn how Everything Works!". N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm>.
   
• "Nuclear power - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power>.

Halloween

Halloween is a time of fun superstition and happiness. We all love going up to a neighbors door and ringing the doorbell and getting candy. If I had to choose between handing out candy and getting it I would choose the one with more of an reward. I love this time because its got almost everything in it that a kid loves.

The history of Halloween is very vague everyone has a different story. One of the ways it was said to have started was the Celtics had a holiday called Samahian. In this festival the people would dress p to try to scare away the evil ghosts that came out on that night. Later pope Gregory the 3rd Named November 1st All Hallows eve. Eventually this became Halloween as we know today.

Halloween today has become a time when people go around and get candy. It's a very happy time. I think that the years get better and better and it's cool to think how the holiday came to be.

Summer Outreach Camp

Last summer I did lots of interesting things, however one of the most memorable times was summer outreach camp. This camp was a church camp, so and we went to a selected persons home and we worked on fixing items that had broken or cleaned up their home because they where too old to do so. I think this was a memorable experience for me and I had a good time.

Tuesday
What happened first was we divided into groups or 'crews' as the staff called them, for the next days activities.We had dinner and went to bed early. It wasn't a very busy day, but we did the important stuff. I think we should have done more, but it was late and we had to work early the next day.

Wednesday
When I got up and I got dressed and  I went down to the cafeteria where some of the kids were already having breakfast. I sat with my friend Aidan who was also on my 'crew'. After breakfast we got prepared and left for our site. When I got there I personally thought that it the house was abandoned.Soon after the crew leader came back out and said to start working and assigned us all jobs. I started pulling weeds that were about 3 feet tall from the planters and other crew members went inside and removed the damaged floor. When I was finished with my tasks we had lunch and went back to work. My next job was to pull sticks out of the grass so we could mow. Eventually it got late so we headed back to the church we were staying at over night and did an activity. We had dinner and all went to bed.


Thursday
This is was the last full day of the camp and so we returned to the same house. Today we were assigned different jobs.  I was on stick duty again and so were a few others, they rest of the crew mowed the grass. Once we finished with the sticks we had to remove broken bottles and other trash right next to the house where the lawn mower was not able to cut.  I completed that task and then I got to caulk a window. That was fun and I think it was the highlight of my day. After we left the site we went to a pool to rinse off and relax for a bit. When we got back to the church we had another activity and then we ate and went to bed and when I fell asleep I was so happy I could just relax.

Friday
When we woke up we got picked up and left the church and went home. I was happy to get home and felt good about what we did. The home was in a lot better condition than when we arrived.

In conclusion  I liked what I did. The only thing I didn't like was that to wake us up they would flash a light in our eyes and it felt weird. I plan on doing this next year so I am looking forward to it. I hope that its even more fun than last year.

Magyk

Authors note: this is a response to a book I'm reading called Magyk

I am currently reading a book called “Magyk”. It is about the Heap family. This family is a wizard family and they have recently discovered the Identity of their adopted daughter. To keep her safe they left their old home in the ramblings (a 3 mile long apartment building) and moved to a different area until it is safe. On their journey they found a kid named Boy 412 and he has been staying with them ever since. Boy 412 is a recruit in the young army and that means it's a bunch of little boys (about 12) running around with pikes and swords.

This book is a good book for anyone who likes magic spells and action. It is also easy to follow. This book is nothing like real life. Perhaps in the Renaissance because they live in a castle but other than that it has almost nothing the same about it and real life.

My favorite character is boy 412. The reason for this is that he seems like hes got a secret and that makes me want to know what it is and it interests me.I hope I find out eventually. Also my predictions for the book is that the magyk ring that boy 412 found will come into play later in the book.

Geography of the UK

Authors note: I decided to write this post about the geography of the UK because I wanted to understand the UK better and I wanted to get some credit for geography.

There are many different countries in the world and each one is different. If I went to Wisconsin and then teleported to the UK they are two totally different places. A reason the two are different is because on is on the other side of the globe! I think that countries have to be different because one is located higher than the other so it's colder.

The UK is located next to Ireland in Europe, and it's within 49 N, 59 N and 8 W, 2 E. What I usually think of when I hear United Kingdom, is the royal guards and "Jaffa Cakes"(spongy cake part on he bottom with cream in the middle and dark chocolate over the top) . Some of the things that are in the UK are many mountains and separate islands. Some of the "Man made" things include castles and old stone buildings.

The climate of the UK is very steady and it averages 43 degrease Fahrenheit in January and averages 69 degrease in the summer in July. Unlike in Wisconsin the average temperature is about 50 degrease. They don't get much rain, only about 2-3 inches of precipitation a month! Also like Wisconsin there are mosquitoes.

In the UK people live no farther than 75 mi. from the sea. Most businesses are in the mountainous area of the country. This country is very interesting in how it works because it is so similar to the US. People drive on the opposite side of the road.

I have to say that I like the UK and would love to go there for a vacation and when I do I'll be able to make a big post about my experience. But until that happens I can still do research and stuff. In conclusion, the UK is a big place and has many different things in it and it is a very nice place to live.

Sources:

"Geography of the UK." Project Britan. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2011. <http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/geography.html>.

October, there is usually a distinct chill in the air, many regions will have experienced their first frosty nights. This is generally an unsettled month with infrequent settled periods. Autumnal storms are likely, this can bring very wet, stormy weather with localised flooding in places. October can sometimes experience a small continuation of Summer, with temperatures reaching the 20’s, mountainous areas of Scotland, and Northern England may see a return in Wintry weather.. "Climate of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom>.

landmarks, and time. "The Five Themes of Geography." University of North Alabama. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://www.una.edu/geography/statedepted/themes.html>.  

"Mosquitoes - Culicidae - UK Safari." UK Safari - A site for anyone interested in the wildlife of Britain. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2011. <http://www.uksafari.com/mosquitoes.htm>.  

The Path (Haiku)

On the path we walk

We meet many challanges

We always can face

In Simpler Times

In simpler times, we would not have to worry about our work because our parents did all of it. We didn't need to worry about, "Am I going to get my project done in time?" All we needed to worry about was when can I go and play, or does he /she want to play with me? I wish we could all just go back to when the days seemed like they lasted forever and the nights would be so short that we could just blink and it would be day. If it was that easy we would almost never be sad and we could just play around all day.

I think that people lose that 'good feeling' once they start getting homework at school, because then you have to get things done quickly instead of doing it whenever you want. I hate the stress you get once this starts. If we could all just relax people would be so much happier. Like on the weekdays when I come home I want to go outside or do something, but instead I have to sit and do my homework. Not that its a bad thing, homework gives us knowledge. I just wish I could do something else.

I hope when I grow up and get a job I can be a teacher because some teachers get the summer off so then I could relax. If you have ever felt like this please leave a comment. I hope that I can be happy and stress free over the weekends so when I come back to school I'm in a good mood.

Blogging

Blogging is one of my least favorite things to do at school. The reason for this is you first have to find a topic, then you have to write it, then you need to proof it and publish it. I really don’t enjoy this. I wish we could do a spelling worksheet like we used to.

First finding a topic is hard. I’ve ended up sitting in one place thinking of a good topic to use for a whole hour. The only problem is since you use a topic you cant write about it next year because people will think that you are just copping the other one. Then also you want to find a topic that isn’t pointless or anything. I just think this part is hard.

Secondly,  pre-writing is pointless if you are using a computer like most people. You can just change things then print it. On paper I can see why you would pre-write because the eraser marks would make it look messy. Otherwise I don’t like it.

Then lastly proofing and publishing it isn’t fun because when you read your own writing you don’t see anything wrong. The only people who seem to notice it are the teachers or parents. Also, if you're in detention or something you're not allowed to talk so no one can proof it.

I think I just don’t like writing things. I wish writing was easier. In the future I hope they invent a machine that would record whatever you said, and would type it or you then you wouldn’t have any errors in grammar or word usage. It would solve most problems about typing and people wanting to write.

The First Month of School

The first month of school is always the hardest. It starts out easy but then gets harder as it goes on. I think that once you get used to it,  it’s way easier. If it went right into school instead of starting out slow, it would be so much harder.

When you start school, you still are in the summer mood, so it's hard to concentrate. Because of this, they don’t give you much homework on the first day. The only problem is once they start really racking up the homework level, it just goes from easy to hardcore or from level one to level 57. Recently I was in A.S.A.P which is like after school detention because homework.
If the teachers would slowly give us homework, we wouldn't need homework club most of the time. If only that was the way it worked, people would me happier to come to school.

At the end of the month, people start to slow down and we get used to the way everything works, but until then, it’s a real challenge. In the beginning of the year (the first week or so,) it’s laid back and everyday you don’t get homework. Then, another challenge is getting back with your friends. This is because your friend might not remember you well if you didn’t do much with them over the summer. Also because they may have changed over the summer and they might have new interests this is rare but it could happen.

The point is that the first month of school is challenging, and you can’t get through easily. It is the same with the last month but that’s not important yet. Overall the school year is tough and it takes patience. In the end, you’ll be happy because it will be another school year out of the way.